


you're all my heart yearns for but you're just too far from me

by JourneytoWonderland



Category: Power Rangers (2017), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: College, F/F, F/M, Lena is the mentor she always wanted, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post High School, Post Movie, Post Season 4, Roommates, Slow Burn, jason teaches ruby how to fight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-07 16:36:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19088896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JourneytoWonderland/pseuds/JourneytoWonderland
Summary: Kara wants to tell Lena the truth, but Lena isn't making it easy by avoiding the conversation.When a new intern pushes Lena to express her emotions through a slightly healthier way than using little boxes (aka going to the gym more), she meets Trini who understands her and helps her figure out her situation.Kara is also ready up her journalism game, so James sends her way a young new rookie photographer by the name of Kimberly Hart. While Supergirl tries to find out who the mysterious Power Rangers are, the pink ranger makes sure to distract her by helping her come clean to Lena instead.Still, living together in a new city with a new life means the pink & yellow superhero girls will face challenges of their own; fortunately, that is something Kimberly's new work partner and Trini's new student can actually help them with (even if they can't help themselves).ORKara and Lena need all the help they can get and Kimberly and Trini will walk circles around each other if no one pushes them together, so someone does.





	1. Prelude

It’s mid-June in National City.

Almost a month has passed since Lex has been presumed dead and a month since many new beginnings started.

Kelly and Alex got together, as did Brainy and Nia after going around in circles for a year. J’onn had found peace in honoring his father’s wishes but mostly understanding his own, and James grew into a better version of himself once he faced the trauma of his past.

Kara lost a part of her that she didn’t get to know, found the public could gain hope in her after losing it tragically and withstood one of the toughest men on the planet. She still hadn’t come out to Lena about her Super secret, though, but she tried.

Lena, for her part, tried to push aside as best as she could all she had dealt with. That meant her brother’s nostalgia, her mother’s heart-wrenching self, and trying to control her own self from doing something she would regret regarding her relationship with Kara.

While almost all of them could move forward, Kara and Lena were now at a place where they each wanted to keep putting in their efforts and energy into helping society but neither would let themselves put a bit of that momentum into each other.

Kara tried at first to tell Lena she was living a double life as a superhero. When Alex warned her against it during family game night at J’onn’s, recently after Lex’s demise, the days she waited ended up turning into weeks.

She’d promised she'd be open to her best friend when the whole ordeal was over and yet that promise was breaking. It wasn't for a lack of trying. It weighed heavily on her heart. But Lena was not making it _easy_.

Because Lena was _furious_. Whether the fury was directed at Kara or herself, she still wasn’t sure. Thanks to her fury, she didn’t let them spend any time alone together or for too long. At hangouts with their friends, she made sure to leave either earlier than others or alongside them. Kara would try to schedule lunch dates or morning workouts together, but Lena wouldn't stop digging herself deeper into her work to avoid it all.

Kara knew she could try actually try harder to reach her. She could ask Lena to speak to her at an appointed time when the CEO wouldn't be able to randomly bail or she could really show up out of nowhere at her apartment once she somehow left L-Corp. It'd certainly come down to that at this point.

The problem was that while Kara was set on being truthful, there was so much fear in her of the 'what if' when Lena would find out. The same panic and terror she'd felt when Lena almost found the pictures in Red Daughter's room would come back, shoothing into her heart as soon as she opened up Lena's contact info to message her.

In the end, neither wanted to meet halfway, and neither reached past the middle.

Now that things in the city have calmed down, Lena has gone back to being a workaholic. Her work schedule resembles the fall when she’d work long hours with Eve, telling herself it was acceptable because the work was just that important. She understood that there couldn’t be a repeat of that, too, so instead of keeping the project as closed off from working hands as she could, she decided to open it up to internships and charity research groups. The size and scope of the project would keep her mind and heart busy enough, she figured.

Kara had been reinvigorated by the power of the press so much so that she began to write more articles for the paper and devoted twice as much of her time into her own job than in the past. Her column about the aliens of National City came back as a weekly front to fight the hate of the country, and Nia and J’onn supported her by letting her know of those to consider interviewing.

Another difference Kara noticed in her work was that as Nia proved herself a wonderful reporter in her own right and Lena distanced herself to work on company matters, she realized that she had quite enjoyed working with someone for a story. It wasn't the same to be working alone.

* * * * * * * * * 

It’s early-July in California.

Over a year has passed since the attack on Angel Grove and over a year since five teenagers became superheroes ready to protect the planet.

Attacks over the energy source embedded in the area had come and gone, each varying in strength and difficulty, but the Power Rangers were able to handle them well enough without outside help.

Now, they have graduated from high school and are on their way to starting college away from their Ranger duties.

All are kindhearted people who care for their loved ones to the point of being willing to die for them. They know what hardships and mistakes are. They get that life is tough. They are also very ready to enjoy college life away from their small town.

While they are still responsible for making sure no one takes the energy source feeding the planet, they all mutually decided that if there is a need for them to go back to fight that they will immediately be teleported no matter what situation they are in.

With that being the case, they all applied to NCU.

Billy was apprehensive at first about leaving his mom alone and how meeting so many people that didn’t know him or know how to treat him and his autism would go, but his friends reassured him not only that they’d be by his side but that they knew how much potential he had, that staying would only limit him and that they wanted the best for him. They encouraged him to go into computer science, so that’s what he applied for.

Jason knew he’d like to become a car engineer after having spent his working time fixing cars and being a mechanic at one of the car shops near the Krispy Kreme Angel Grove had. He couldn’t get a football scholarship as his father had wanted or any sport for that matter, but he didn’t want to burden his family financially either. With that in mind, apart from being a jr mechanic he also began to teach self-defense and boxing classes at a gym where Trini landed a job some months earlier. At the time he wasn’t sure where he’d go for college or where he’d live if not in the city he grew up in, so he just saved up the majority of what he’d earn. Even if his relationship with his dad had mellowed out, he knew it was time for him to leave his family and make his own life away from them.

Trini couldn’t have felt better than when she saw how she really had found a family that loved her. Things with her parents were never smooth sailing, and her brothers cared for her, but they were too young to understand all of the worries she carried. When her dad told them all that as soon as school let out and her graduation was over they’d be packing up and moving again, it was a no brainer that she decided to stay. She’d found a well-working job to save up money and her application to NCU for a kinesiology degree was already accepted, but she hadn’t told them. They were so, so proud of her, though. It had just been bittersweet, because her parents and she herself understood that from then on they’d be on different paths of life.

Kimberly didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life. She tried everything from rejoining a gymnastics club to getting a job with her father’s law firm as a temp and even handling a higher percentage of intergalactic communication while Jason had too much on his shoulders to do it. She knew she didn’t have to worry about money as much as her friends did, and since her parents liked the changes they’d seen over time in her attitude, they let her apply to NYU with an undecided major. They still wanted her to get a job if they were going to be her primary financial supporters, either way. Billy was the one who suggested she try something new; he told her about taking her photography to a new level with a company in their new city.

Zack, contrary to all of his friends, went through the worst and toughest year out of them all. He, unfortunately, lost his mom months after the initial battle with Rita, their almost death. His mom would at first have her ups and downs in health, but even getting her better medicine and better care couldn’t stop her life from slowly leaving her in the end. He hadn’t taken it well.

He first lost his job, then his grades were so affected that he needed to attend summer school and there wasn’t any money that his mother could have left him for the basics he’d need. When it became obvious that he was only spiraling by living on his own, his friends took it into their own hands to support him as best as they could.

Jason would go out of his way to pick him up every day for school and Ranger practice and hangouts and any other errands he might need. He never lectured him about his conduct or told him what to do differently. He just helped by not leaving his side much of the time and making sure he was there if Zack ever needed a shoulder to cry on.

Kimberly made sure he was eating enough after he’d lost so much weight that his eyes looked sunken. If she couldn’t get a meal or cook one at least two times a day, she’d have a meal delivery service take one to him. It was really all Zack could do but give her the warmest and softest hugs she’d experience every time he saw her.

Trini was the one next to him when Jason wasn’t. She had countless sleepovers with him after her work hours ended and would make sure to help him in the subjects he had trouble with, like English and History. She was the one he let himself vent out to, from things like stupid things his classmates would do to weighty stuff like how he worried about if his mother’s burial was what she really would have wanted and if he did certain things right or not, like her medication or the food he prepped for her every day.

Billy, bless him, was the only one who could actually talk to him about his mom and the pain. Ever since he met his friends, they showed him how to deal with the loss of not having his father. Now he could do something similar for Zack. He’d offered his house, too, explaining how his mom told him he could be there if he wanted.

It was more than enough for Zack to know their love for him.

He bounced back by the end of that summer, gaining a better job than before and putting in the work now to become someone his mother would have been proud of. He began to study up farther into her disease as well as overall biology and chemistry. As was his sense of self, he got all in for this new route.

He was the one who suggested attending National City University, because their medical program is one of the best in the country, and it has something for all of them.

* * * * * * * * *

July.

Lena sat in her office going over applications for the paid internships for her new project. She’d specifically wanted those who already had a good foundation over what the disease entails but also free enough so that they could dedicate a good deal of their time for this. As she expected, multiple undergrads and graduate students wanted to be a part of the work that would take place in this venture. What she hadn’t considered would be that a high school senior would apply.

She immediately understood by the essay and reports he submitted that he both had a founding knowledge for what she needed and a dedication she knew would be a must for this work. The considerations only went through her mind for less than a minute before she decided to approve the lad.

It’d be one of the best decisions of her life.

* * *

July. Same week.

Kara sighed as she quickly read over all of the recent national news on her computer. Things had calmed down, mostly. Supergirl wasn’t needed in the same scale now for several weeks and while she had been investigating various people and events, most of her leads kept running dry. She’d spoken about this stagnancy with James.

“Why don’t you try partnering up with someone? Nia might help you find and see things you don't,” he suggested.

She had shrugged, the crease between her brows growing as she thought about it. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy working with the younger hero, but the beat Nia ran with included other aspects of their city that Kara didn’t care as much to report on. She wanted to cover crime and people and good works, not the influences of those in industries like fashion or schools. When she explained this to her boss, he understood but kept a similar train of thought for a moment longer.

“I’ll send you a list of people to consider. If it doesn’t help, you’ll know.”

Now in the present, a ping rang from the computer signaling a new email. Opening it, her line of sight found that one of the first job titles wasn't "Reporter" but actually “Photographer”.

What caught her attention next was the place of origin for one of them. It was higher up north in the state, somewhere Kara had heard of in passing but never visited. She knew there had been recently been major alien sightings there, but not much was known about what happened or why. The only information she was certain of was just that a group called the Power Rangers handled it.

“Maybe… _she_ can help me investigate who they are and what they want,” Kara said to herself, smiling as she realized she had a story to chase now. It could be one for both Kara Danvers and Supergirl if it came down to it.


	2. First Day Part One

First week of August. Monday morning. Around 6 AM. L-Corp.

Lena knew she didn't have to come in so early.

The introductions and orientations for the new project weren’t set to begin for another two hours still, and yet, knowing this she had roped Sam in to go with her.

“We have no reason to be here before the sun is up,” she protested. Lena rolled her eyes at her friend as they both reached the set of elevators in the L-Corp lobby.

“The sun _is_ up,” she herself reminded.

“Well it wasn’t when I left _home_ ,” the other muttered petulantly.

That got a short, breathy laugh from her boss, and so Sam finally smiled.

Sam had been noticing through every video call they’d had over the past couple of months that Lena was getting more and more uptight. It was one of the main reasons she'd even accepted moving back for the start of the project this summer. She was worried about her, but even being back in National City didn’t get Lena to open up about what was worrying her.

Sam told as much to Ruby the night before. Her daughter understood that her mom wanted to keep a close eye on the woman Ruby considered practically her aunt, and the plan was for them to be back in time before Ruby's classes in Metropolis started back up in September. For now, the younger Arias would be enrolled in a gym program near the house. The multiple sports they offered there would hopefully keep her occupied. Knowing Ruby would be alright let Sam focus some of her energy over to Lena and the company.

They stepped into the elevator. Lena immediately input a code next to the floor numbers before selecting where they wanted to go. What her friend noticed next, though, was a diagram above the numbers. It was on a screen showing varying dots for every few floors.

That was new.

“Security upgrade?” she questioned, calmly resting against the back wall. Most of the dots were white. Two green ones were quickly going up what looked like the building, and there was one lonesome black dot in the floor they were heading to. Lena nodded, pulling out a tablet from her purse.

“This way I can see who is where in my building. Anyone not registered will show up as red. They are only permitted in the lobby. If they do get registered, their dots becomes purple,” she explained.

Sam hummed, observing the screen workings some more. Before Lena had input the code, the screen was just mentioning the usual sort of information. It included the date, time, and also advertisements for the company’s products and programs. It didn’t take a genius to see that Lena Luthor was beginning to border the line between paranoid than cautious.

“So who’s that?”

Lena glanced up as Sam pointed to the lone black dot. That’s precisely what she’d been trying to figure out.

“I assigned that color to the research group. They’re-”

“Night owls,” Sam guessed jokingly. Lena rolled her eyes again, smiling at her friend. She missed her.

“Not supposed to be here yet,” she continued as though she hadn't been interrupted. “Part of the orientation later includes showing them how to clock in and out so that the system fully recognizes who they are, but whoever this is can currently only access this floor and area for the same reason that they're not fully set yet.”

“Sounds like whoever they are is excited.”

“But it’s _so early_ for that,” Lena groans. Sam couldn’t help the full out laugh that bubbled out of her mouth. She knew she was right that Lena was just trying to hide her tiredness earlier.

The doors then opened to reveal a wide, open expanse of a room. The CEO specifically reserved this floor for the project knowing it would be running for at least a year or two. There had to be space for both intense, flexible work as well as enough room for her employees to allow themselves sufficient rest in their breaks.

By the far corner, next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, there sat a lone lanky figure in one of the sofa chairs laid out.

He hadn’t noticed their entrance yet as his eyes stayed fixed on the tablet in front of him. Or... well, table.

Lena ordered in about fifteen specialized tables for the lounge areas that could double as screens to work on. She hoped there’d be late nights or early mornings when her teams would endeavor to continue onwards even during meals or breaks, because they’d feel they were close to a breakthrough or they were on a roll and couldn't give up just then. She wasn't planning on having any of her employees suffer burnout, but it was her work ethic. She got results with it, and commitment was what she wanted from them. So she gave them the resources for it.

As both women approached, he lifted his head to look at them.

None of the lights were on yet, so the only wide-spread illumination came from the windows where the sun wasn’t fully up either. It gave him a soft, childish glow. The light from the table he was using reminded them of people who used their phones in the dark. He looked like a kid caught playing video games instead of sleeping.

“M-ma’ams” Rising to his feet, both noticed his posture going rigid and yet there was something easy-going about his smile. He dressed up well with a white button up and black slacks for his first day here, but Sam saw his black, slightly used converse first and then a heavy-duty backpack next to the sofa chair second. If his youthful expression and wardrobe hadn’t given him away, the way he greeted them did. He was definitely only a teenager, only a few years older than Ruby.

“Good morning,” Sam responded, making her sure her voice was amicable. She wasn't happy at him for being the reason she couldn’t get a few more hours of sleep, but there was a time and a place for chewing him out on that front. She glanced over to Lena, wondering if she’d caught on about his age. He towered over both of them and had a slight built but there were so many clues for her to figure it out nonetheless.

“Hello, Mr. Taylor”

Why did Sam even doubt her?

“Miss Luthor,” he said, looking like he was about to bow. Instead, he gave her an awkward nod as though accepting he’d gotten caught stealing ice cream from the cafeteria by the principle.

Lena stepped over to his right, sitting down on a couch by the table where she could also see what he'd been working on. One of her eyebrows classically arched as she read over his notes and spread document pages on patients and their history.

“You’ve been busy.”

He sat back down, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Sam made a quick, simple choice to put on the coffee pot before officially starting her work hours.

“I just… I hope I’m not overstepping my liberties here already,” he explained anxiously, turning to look Lena right in the eye, “but while I understand I’ll probably be running lunch orders or fielding calls, what goes on here is _important._ I know it.”

Lena admired that he got straight to the point. She imagined he'd been up for quite some time if he was this awake and direct at the moment. She motioned for him to continue. He took in a breath.

Part of him was regretting not listening to the “arrive at 9:00 AM sharp” email.

“The thing is, even if I don’t get a say in what information is collected on cell analysis or long-term medicinal applications, I knew that if I wanted to have a set conviction for why I’m doing this that I had to at least try to get to know _who_ we’ll be helping. They,” he motioned to the table where multiple patient summaries lit back at them, “need us. Their _family_ …needs us.”

Zack sighed, mentally cringing at his use words that sounded nothing like him. He stared out the window at the finishing sunrise, thinking on what else he could say. He didn’t want to bear out his heart to this woman he hardly knew, but he also didn’t want to accidentally lose his job for breaking in on the first day. Jason and Trini would chew him out for it, probably.

Lena observed the young man for a few seconds as she took in his words and remembered his application. She knew she hadn't hired him for his education but for his experience. Thankfully, she could tell from the notes he’d written down that she'd made the right decision.

Unlike the scientists who'd come to her building later in the day, he was now presently focused on how the treatments impacted the patient’s sense of being. If they were sad, joyful, tired, or content, he made a note about it aligning it to their treatment. She could tell he was on to something. It felt like a good step in the right direction for this project, and she was so thankful that the start was going so well.

“You’re right,” she clarified. His head snapped back to her immediately, surprised.

Sam walked over with three cups of coffee and a blueberry muffin. When Zack saw the food he quickly saved and closed his process, moving some of his physical notes aside when she set down the food on the table. He figured it was only polite.

“The work we’ll be doing here is vital. I _know_ you understand that. You’re also right in that you will _not_ be handling as much responsibility as everyone else, but don’t let that deter you. We do need someone like you on this team,” she specified, giving him a small smile. It grew a bit as Sam handed her the steaming milky coffee she knew was hers.

When Sam slid over the third cup she'd made to the boy, he took it graciously and grinned at her happily. The mom in her wondered if he’d gotten any breakfast before coming here.

As though to answer her question, he pulled his backpack closer and got out a half dozen box of donuts. She laughed into her cup, her shoulders shaking like she couldn't believe it.

“Do you guys want some?” He grinned sheepishly at both women. He hoped he was making a good first impression apart from the praise his boss had just given him for his work.

As to show them it was alright for them to get some, he reached over for the chocolate coconut one in the middle of the box. Sam grinned, thanking him as she pushed Lena to the side of the couch just enough to get one, too. "Don't mind if I do"

As for their boss, she just smiled mirthlessly and took a sip of her coffee, enjoying the taste and warmth on her tongue. She was currently avoiding the sugary pastry, really. And burgers. And ice cream. And pizza. And potstickers... She was avoiding a lot of foods.

As though the universe wanted to make a point on that end to remind her why that was so, they heard what sounded like a sonic boom in the distance. In mere seconds, Supergirl herself flew past their windows.

Lena had to clutch her cup with both hands. Her fingers felt weak, paper-like. But her jaw and shoulders tightened. Sam saw. Not that they could feel the wind inside the room.

“Woah, was that _Supergirl_? I didn’t think I’d get to see her around so soon,” Zack rushed to say, jumping off his chair to dash over to the nearest window. He tried getting closer, seeing if he could catch another peek of the fellow hero.

“Neither did I,” Lena murmured.

‘ _So much for a distraction,_ ’ she thought.


End file.
